Pheasant Industry in SD

[A5 Sweet 16]

Didn't want to highjack Mr. Peters' waterfowl thread.

Per SPUR60...

"As far as pheasants are concerned, it's not a sport or leisure activity anymore in SD, its an entire industry sustained at current levels of participation (and $pending) only by the raise and release of somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000+ birds onto private land annually."

I kind of feel like the private shooting preserve industry is somewhat unrelated to the non-preserve pheasant hunting industry here in SD, which is also really significant. I mean, obviously they're somewhat connected, to what extend I don't know. I wonder what the economic impact of each actually is. Any thoughts??

 

[Duluthian]

does anyone have any proof that the state releases a million birds a year? I've heard repeated claims of it over the years but never seen a claim that had any supporting documentation to the claim

 

[Goosemaster]

Didn't want to highjack Mr. Peters' waterfowl thread.

Per SPUR60...

"As far as pheasants are concerned, it's not a sport or leisure activity anymore in SD, its an entire industry sustained at current levels of participation (and $pending) only by the raise and release of somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000+ birds onto private land annually."

I kind of feel like the private shooting preserve industry is somewhat unrelated to the non-preserve pheasant hunting industry here in SD, which is also really significant. I mean, obviously they're somewhat connected, to what extend I don't know. I wonder what the economic impact of each actually is. Any thoughts??

Well for one thing, these operations that raise pheasants, are a huge industry in itself. There is a lot of work and technology that goes into these pheasants that they release.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

does anyone have any proof that the state releases a million birds a year? I've heard repeated claims of it over the years but never seen a claim that had any supporting documentation to the claim

The State of SD releases zero pheasants. Licensed shooting preserves are required by law to release mature roosters. That data is published annually by the Dept of Game Fish & Parks. Last year 235 licensed preserves released 632k roosters and harvested 357k of them, along with 23k wild birds. I assume the vast majority of the remaining released birds became fox food. Those preserve numbers are NOT included in the GF&P's annual harvest estimate, which was 1,311k last year.

What is unknown is the number released by other non-preserve operations, as they're obviously allowed to, but not required to report to the GF&P. That number could be included in the GF&P's harvest estimate. I strongly suspect that number is less than 100k. But say it was 3x that....300k & the harvest rate was similar to preserves, so about 170k. That's still only 13% of 1,311k, & the wild harvest would've been 1,141. I firmly believe that so far, released birds have very little impact on our wild population, which I think recently has varied between 6M & 9M pheasants. Right now I think we're toward the high side of that range.

 

[gps4]

The State of SD releases zero pheasants. Licensed shooting preserves are required by law to release mature roosters. That data is published annually by the Dept of Game Fish & Parks. Last year 235 licensed preserves released 632k roosters and harvested 357k of them, along with 23k wild birds. I assume the vast majority of the remaining released birds became fox food. Those preserve numbers are NOT included in the GF&P's annual harvest estimate, which was 1,311k last year.

What is unknown is the number released by other non-preserve operations, as they're obviously allowed to, but not required to report to the GF&P. That number could be included in the GF&P's harvest estimate. I strongly suspect that number is less than 100k. But say it was 3x that....300k & the harvest rate was similar to preserves, so about 170k. That's still only 13% of 1,311k, & the wild harvest would've been 1,141. I firmly believe that so far, released birds have very little impact on our wild population, which I think recently has varied between 6M & 9M pheasants. Right now I think we're toward the high side of that range.

is there a searchable directory for private preserve license holders?

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

is there a searchable directory for private preserve license holders?

Not to my knowledge, but if you email Janelle Blaha in Pierre, she'll send you a list. She's the shooting preserve coordinator.

 

[dawgs14]

Didn't want to highjack Mr. Peters' waterfowl thread.

Per SPUR60...

"As far as pheasants are concerned, it's not a sport or leisure activity anymore in SD, its an entire industry sustained at current levels of participation (and $pending) only by the raise and release of somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000+ birds onto private land annually."

I kind of feel like the private shooting preserve industry is somewhat unrelated to the non-preserve pheasant hunting industry here in SD, which is also really significant. I mean, obviously they're somewhat connected, to what extend I don't know. I wonder what the economic impact of each actually is. Any thoughts??

There are several pheasant hunting markets in SD. The private & public land wild-bird hunt market, the large commercial pen-raised hunt market, and the farmer hosting two or three hunters for a couple of days, with pen-raised birds, hunt market. I'm sure there are lots of variations of this as well. All those scenarios mean revenue for the local and state economies. I do not like the large commercial market but it's a revenue generator for a farming state and can be done in conjunction with farming in many cases. I get a real laugh out of the folks here in Georgia who go to SD in September to hunt pheasants and really believe they have experienced true SD pheasant hunting. Or better yet, they go to a tower shoot here in Georgia and think they have pheasant hunted. Give me wild birds or I'm staying home.

 

[3car]

The State of SD releases zero pheasants. Licensed shooting preserves are required by law to release mature roosters. That data is published annually by the Dept of Game Fish & Parks. Last year 235 licensed preserves released 632k roosters and harvested 357k of them, along with 23k wild birds. I assume the vast majority of the remaining released birds became fox food. Those preserve numbers are NOT included in the GF&P's annual harvest estimate, which was 1,311k last year.

What is unknown is the number released by other non-preserve operations, as they're obviously allowed to, but not required to report to the GF&P. That number could be included in the GF&P's harvest estimate. I strongly suspect that number is less than 100k. But say it was 3x that....300k & the harvest rate was similar to preserves, so about 170k. That's still only 13% of 1,311k, & the wild harvest would've been 1,141. I firmly believe that so far, released birds have very little impact on our wild population, which I think recently has varied between 6M & 9M pheasants. Right now I think we're toward the high side of that range.

100%

 

[Goosemaster]

I talked to a lady in Aberdeen the other day about a car, she told me that she owned a farm in the Aberdeen area, and they let Hunter stay there, and they released birds. Then she went into a big spiel about a winner a few years ago that that I guess wiped out all the pheasants, and they had to start releasing pheasants on their property, so they could have hunters come in, and get paid. Paid. Now this this is going to be something that happens in South Dakota and I'm not sure how much it happens. I think this is getting to be a trend in South Dakota, this releasing birds on private property so they can bring hunters in. I'm totally against it. I'm not going to say I'm in favor of this.

 

[Bob Peters]

My buddy had some connection on private in Beadle county last year. Was something like his dad's cousins' buddy. The guy was a doctor and owned a nice chunk of land with great pheasant habitat. He had the group out and let them hunt, didn't have to pay a dime. The guy had released a bunch of hatchery birds out there before season.

I interrupted my buddy here, "WHY?!!!"

The only guess he had was the owner seemed really proud of his spot, and perhaps in a way touched with vanity wanted everyone to think his land was the best and loaded with birds. I personally thought dumping pen-raised birds out there a stupid decision.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

I interrupted my buddy here, "WHY?!!!"

The only guess he had was the owner seemed really proud of his spot, and perhaps in a way touched with vanity wanted everyone to think his land was the best and loaded with birds. I personally thought dumping pen-raised birds out there a stupid decision.

Thumbs down!

Obviously if the habitat is there, the pheasants will be there. If he wants to over-hunt it, they (the roosters anyway) will simply make themselves unhuntable, or nearly so, just like mid-late season on public land or a preserve 2 weeks into their season. Maybe he wants to hunt it more than wild birds will permit.

 

[SPUR60]

does anyone have any proof that the state releases a million birds a year? I've heard repeated claims of it over the years but never seen a claim that had any supporting documentation to the claim

"The state" does not release any birds. The closest thing to a government agency that releases birds is banded reward birds by a few of the tourism groups.

People who release birds onto non preserve acres are not required to report those releases. But here's some data to start leading you to possible conclusions:
Anybody who sells a pheasant in SD is required to fill out an annual report. I have all of the reports from 2023. In state pheasant sales exceeded 800,000 birds. Add in what I could find for reliable info for the production of 4-5 out of state pheasant farms; who've stated the majority of their birds are delivered to SD, and it's not hard to get over 1,000,000 released in SD, which would include 600K for licensed shooting preserve acres. The only way we'll ever know for sure is mandatory reporting of all released birds, not just for preserves. But the GFP will NEVER lobby the legislature to pass that as a law, and our legislature would likely never pass it, nor would any republican governor sign a bill that did hit the house floor. It would blow up the tired old trope of the big lodges claiming "100% wild birds."

 

[Goosemaster]

My buddy had some connection on private in Beadle county last year. Was something like his dad's cousins' buddy. The guy was a doctor and owned a nice chunk of land with great pheasant habitat. He had the group out and let them hunt, didn't have to pay a dime. The guy had released a bunch of hatchery birds out there before season.

I interrupted my buddy here, "WHY?!!!"

The only guess he had was the owner seemed really proud of his spot, and perhaps in a way touched with vanity wanted everyone to think his land was the best and loaded with birds. I personally thought dumping pen-raised birds out there a stupid decision.

I agree thumbs down. If I owned a farm in South Dakota I would not release any birds. Zero

 

[benelli-banger]

I talked to a lady in Aberdeen the other day about a car, she told me that she owned a farm in the Aberdeen area, and they let Hunter stay there, and they released birds. Then she went into a big spiel about a winner a few years ago that that I guess wiped out all the pheasants, and they had to start releasing pheasants on their property, so they could have hunters come in, and get paid. Paid. Now this this is going to be something that happens in South Dakota and I'm not sure how much it happens. I think this is getting to be a trend in South Dakota, this releasing birds on private property so they can bring hunters in. I'm totally against it. I'm not going to say I'm in favor of this.

Happens a lot. Farmers don’t want to commit so much land to habitat in order to grow their own. And, when they host their opening weekend group, many who have no dogs, they don’t want to be hunting all day, too much work.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

Anybody who sells a pheasant in SD is required to fill out an annual report. I have all of the reports from 2023. In state pheasant sales exceeded 800,000 birds. Add in what I could find for reliable info for the production of 4-5 out of state pheasant farms; who've stated the majority of their birds are delivered to SD, and it's not hard to get over 1,000,000 released in SD, which would include 600K for licensed shooting preserve acres.

So what exactly are those reports showing? Birds sold in SD & released in SD? Or birds sold in SD & released anywhere in the world?

Where are these out of state pheasant farms located? I'd guess that most of the time, the lowest price is going to come from one of the suppliers close to you.

I suppose, though, the top tier preserves may buy birds that act extra wild, which would obviously cost more. Unless they buy regular dumb ones & train them once they arrive at the preserve.

 

[Tomahawker]

You can only hunt and shoot a property so much before a noticeable drop in numbers occurs. Particularly with large party groups of hunters. Have 5-12 hunters out on weekends and you will need to replace birds. Your average once a year bird hunter doesn’t care to know much except “how many birds we get?”.

 

[matto]

"The state" does not release any birds. The closest thing to a government agency that releases birds is banded reward birds by a few of the tourism groups.

People who release birds onto non preserve acres are not required to report those releases. But here's some data to start leading you to possible conclusions:
Anybody who sells a pheasant in SD is required to fill out an annual report. I have all of the reports from 2023. In state pheasant sales exceeded 800,000 birds. Add in what I could find for reliable info for the production of 4-5 out of state pheasant farms; who've stated the majority of their birds are delivered to SD, and it's not hard to get over 1,000,000 released in SD, which would include 600K for licensed shooting preserve acres. The only way we'll ever know for sure is mandatory reporting of all released birds, not just for preserves. But the GFP will NEVER lobby the legislature to pass that as a law, and our legislature would likely never pass it, nor would any republican governor sign a bill that did hit the house floor. It would blow up the tired old trope of the big lodges claiming "100% wild birds."

One summer I spent some time researching commercial hunting operations in SD. My dad, in his late 70s at the time, wanted to treat me, my BIL, and our kids to a hunt. My job was to pick the spot. As we all know, consistent success on truly wild birds on pubic land takes time to develop. So we were looking for something private/commercial. I talked to a lot of places. The websites frequently promised wild birds. That was their first answer when you talked to them on the phone--"yes wild birds." Press them a little and they admitted to releasing birds. I suppose in the lodge owner's head "wild" can be a description of their behavior or their current living circumstances, not the circumstances of their hatching. And in that sense, to the operator at least, it's not a lie.

We ended up with a native guide on Rosebud that year. I'm sure they were wild birds, but the experience was not what we were after. The next year we were with UGuide. I'm pretty confident that was wild birds, at least as far as UGuide knew. That experience was better, but still not exactly what we were after.

A couple years after that I started going up with some friends, DIY on public. 4 years into that now, and we're having more fun than ever. Far more fun than those two years we spent in the commercial space.

Anyway, I'd guess that SPUR's numbers are on the low side. There are pheasant ranches in Kansas that ship birds to SD.

 

[Bob Peters]

You can only hunt and shoot a property so much before a noticeable drop in numbers occurs. Particularly with large party groups of hunters. Have 5-12 hunters out on weekends and you will need to replace birds. Your average once a year bird hunter doesn’t care to know much except “how many birds we get?”.

I agree on that all the way. The funny thing with this guy, I think his sweet property gets hunted about 3 times a year. Must have been a case of keeping up with the Jones'.

 

[Tomahawker]

Talked to a local who told us a story not related to this subject but in the telling he said he took some of the bosses clients out for hunts and had to pick up birds to release for tomorrow’s hunt. Point being releasing birds is happening regardless if money is exchanged .

 

[Brentbullets]

Birds are raised in Nebraska and shipped to South Dakota every year.